DOTC orders probe of MRT maintenance

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) has ordered the Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) to investigate whether Metro Rail Transit (MRT) officials had taken appropriate action to address the railway’s system problems.

The problems were found by a former interim maintenance contractor after a thorough system assessment and audit conducted from October 2012 to February 2013.

DOTC spokesman Migs Sagcal told The STAR LRTA administrator Honorito Chaneco will meet this week with Aure Porte Technique (APT) Global, the current MRT maintenance contractor.

“We’re asking LRTA administrator  Chaneco to check what actions were taken by MRT on this matter before he assumed officer-in-charge status,” he said.

“He will also meet with the current maintenance contractor on Tuesday afternoon to validate issues and get updates. Safety is always a priority of the DOTC,” Sagcal added.

He said the DOTC had only taken over the job of hiring a maintenance contractor for MRT when management failed to hire one near the end of the contract of Sumitomo-TES Philippines in October 2012.

“We were forced to step in when MRT Corp. refused to continue fulfilling its obligation to procure a maintenance service provider in 2012,” he said. “The wear and tear suffered by the train coaches are also due to MRTC’s failure to add LRVs (light rail vehicles) when they were due many years ago.”

The government controls MRTC through the Land Bank of the Philippines and the Development Bank of the Philippines.

‘Don’t blame us’

Roehl Bacar, CB&T Philippines president, expressed frustration over reports blaming his company for the persistent glitches in the EDSA-bound rail line.

In an interview yesterday, Bacar said the DOTC can easily ascertain the condition of the MRT’s various systems if it will just look for the assessment report that Systra, the DOTC’s long-time operations and maintenance consultant, had submitted.

The location of the report would likely be known to MRT director for operations Renato San Jose, he added.

Bacar, a Mandaluyong City councilor, said the glitches must not be blamed on CB&T, the MRT’s former interim contractor, or on APT Global, the current contractor. CB&T Philippines is the current maintenance contractor of LRT Line 1.

He said CB&T’s audit showed that TES Philippines had reportedly committed questionable maintenance actions during its term as maintenance contractor, chief of which was its use of already deteriorated parts or equipment and its failure to use original equipment manufacturer parts for various systems or components of the MRT trains such as traction motors, air-conditioning units, and wheel and axle assembly.